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Alabama finishes the job it started in 2007

Published: Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, January 15, 2010 at 3:27 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama football team began the 2009 season with a one-word mission:

Finish.

A process that began when Nick Saban was hired before the 2007 season came to fruition in Pasadena, Calif., with a 37-21 victory over Texas in the BCS National Championship Game. It took Saban, who won a national title at LSU in 2003, to do the same at Alabama, adding a 13th national title trophy to the school's display case.

“No. 13, it meant a lot to us but it meant a whole lot to the fans, to the school and to everybody else supporting us,” senior All-American nose guard Terrence Cody said after the national championship game. “This is good for us, but it made a lot of people happy.”

Before Alabama could celebrate a national title, however, the Crimson Tide hit a bump in the road in 2008. UA rolled along through a perfect regular season before ending with a loss to Florida in the Southeastern Conference title game and falling flat against Utah in the Sugar Bowl.

Those losses, as it turned out, served as fuel for Alabama players and coaches. They wanted to finish in '09, and did just that.

The team that didn't finish in 2008 became the team that put the finishing touches on a perfect season a season later.

“Finishing the season means a lot to us because we knew we had to finish last year, but we didn't end up finishing,” Cody said. “We finished this year. We worked hard at it. We worked hard in the fourth-quarter (conditioning program) and that carried over into season. We finished a lot of games in the fourth quarter, because sometimes we were behind and sometimes we weren't good on both sides of the ball.”

Naturally, the Texas game came down to the fourth quarter. Playing in historic Rose Bowl Stadium, Alabama seemed well on its way to an easy victory when Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy went down early in the game with an injury and the Tide went on a second-quarter scoring spree to lead 24-0 at halftime.

Texas, however, collected itself and surged back. Freshman reserve quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw a touchdown pass in the third quarter and another -- along with a two-point conversion pass -- in the final period.

Suddenly, with 6:15 to go, Alabama's lead was down to three points at 24-21.

Then came the familiar fourth-quarter finish for an Alabama team that had largely beaten the competitiveness out of its opposition by the final period throughout most of the season.

Texas saw its last three possessions end in turnovers, and both Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and freshman sensation Trent Richardson scored short-yardage touchdowns in the game's final minutes as Alabama pulled away to victory.

No one on the Alabama side was surprised that, in the most crucial of situations, the Tide finished.

“It became a habit for us and was just something we knew how to do, not something we had to click on like, ‘Let's see how to finish.' We finished, that's what we do, let's keep doing what we do and keep moving and keep going,” said senior cornerback Javier Arenas.

Quarterback Greg McElroy took a knee to wind the final seconds off the block, setting off not just a celebration but a festival of appreciation.

“First of all, I'll tell you what I told the team, that I've never been prouder of a group of guys for their resiliency, their buy-in, their hard work, the blood, sweat and tears that they put forth to accomplish what they accomplished this season,” Saban said in his postgame remarks. “I think most of us don't realize how difficult it is, the togetherness that it takes and certainly the hard work that these guys did.

“And we certainly appreciate it and are proud of them and want to congratulate every member of our team and our coaching staff for the great job that they did.”

Mal Moore, the director of athletics who hired Saban and put the process in motion, expressed his joy on the Rose Bowl turf after the game.

“I could not be prouder of this accomplish and of the coaches, Coach Saban in particular for his effort leading the staff, the team, through the three years he's been here, heavy recruiting and hard recruiting,” Moore said. “ It's the most impressive thing I've ever seen, to build this team.

“And then to win every game in a season is hard and close out like this and win the national championship, it's very impressive.”

For his part, Saban was content to spread the good feelings and sense of accomplishment.

“I'm really most happy for everybody else,” he said. “You know, I'm happy for our fans, I'm happy for our players, I'm happy for all the people who work so hard to try to restore this and I'm happy that we were able to make such a significant contribution to something that's a pretty significant accomplishment for our organization.

“But I'm really happiest for all the other people, to see them so happy about what was accomplished.”

That accomplishment will be celebrated today at Bryant-Denny Stadium, an appropriate concluding point for the team that finished.

<p>TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama football team began the 2009 season with a one-word mission: </p><p>Finish. </p><p>A process that began when Nick Saban was hired before the 2007 season came to fruition in Pasadena, Calif., with a 37-21 victory over Texas in the BCS National Championship Game. It took Saban, who won a national title at LSU in 2003, to do the same at Alabama, adding a 13th national title trophy to the school's display case. </p><p>“No. 13, it meant a lot to us but it meant a whole lot to the fans, to the school and to everybody else supporting us,” senior All-American nose guard Terrence Cody said after the national championship game. “This is good for us, but it made a lot of people happy.” </p><p>Before Alabama could celebrate a national title, however, the Crimson Tide hit a bump in the road in 2008. UA rolled along through a perfect regular season before ending with a loss to Florida in the Southeastern Conference title game and falling flat against Utah in the Sugar Bowl. </p><p>Those losses, as it turned out, served as fuel for Alabama players and coaches. They wanted to finish in '09, and did just that. </p><p>The team that didn't finish in 2008 became the team that put the finishing touches on a perfect season a season later. </p><p>“Finishing the season means a lot to us because we knew we had to finish last year, but we didn't end up finishing,” Cody said. “We finished this year. We worked hard at it. We worked hard in the fourth-quarter (conditioning program) and that carried over into season. We finished a lot of games in the fourth quarter, because sometimes we were behind and sometimes we weren't good on both sides of the ball.” </p><p>Naturally, the Texas game came down to the fourth quarter. Playing in historic Rose Bowl Stadium, Alabama seemed well on its way to an easy victory when Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy went down early in the game with an injury and the Tide went on a second-quarter scoring spree to lead 24-0 at halftime. </p><p>Texas, however, collected itself and surged back. Freshman reserve quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw a touchdown pass in the third quarter and another -- along with a two-point conversion pass -- in the final period. </p><p>Suddenly, with 6:15 to go, Alabama's lead was down to three points at 24-21. </p><p>Then came the familiar fourth-quarter finish for an Alabama team that had largely beaten the competitiveness out of its opposition by the final period throughout most of the season. </p><p>Texas saw its last three possessions end in turnovers, and both Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and freshman sensation Trent Richardson scored short-yardage touchdowns in the game's final minutes as Alabama pulled away to victory. </p><p>No one on the Alabama side was surprised that, in the most crucial of situations, the Tide finished. </p><p>“It became a habit for us and was just something we knew how to do, not something we had to click on like, 'Let's see how to finish.' We finished, that's what we do, let's keep doing what we do and keep moving and keep going,” said senior cornerback Javier Arenas. </p><p>Quarterback Greg McElroy took a knee to wind the final seconds off the block, setting off not just a celebration but a festival of appreciation. </p><p>“First of all, I'll tell you what I told the team, that I've never been prouder of a group of guys for their resiliency, their buy-in, their hard work, the blood, sweat and tears that they put forth to accomplish what they accomplished this season,” Saban said in his postgame remarks. “I think most of us don't realize how difficult it is, the togetherness that it takes and certainly the hard work that these guys did. </p><p>“And we certainly appreciate it and are proud of them and want to congratulate every member of our team and our coaching staff for the great job that they did.” </p><p>Mal Moore, the director of athletics who hired Saban and put the process in motion, expressed his joy on the Rose Bowl turf after the game. </p><p>“I could not be prouder of this accomplish and of the coaches, Coach Saban in particular for his effort leading the staff, the team, through the three years he's been here, heavy recruiting and hard recruiting,” Moore said. “ It's the most impressive thing I've ever seen, to build this team. </p><p>“And then to win every game in a season is hard and close out like this and win the national championship, it's very impressive.” </p><p>For his part, Saban was content to spread the good feelings and sense of accomplishment. </p><p>“I'm really most happy for everybody else,” he said. “You know, I'm happy for our fans, I'm happy for our players, I'm happy for all the people who work so hard to try to restore this and I'm happy that we were able to make such a significant contribution to something that's a pretty significant accomplishment for our organization. </p><p>“But I'm really happiest for all the other people, to see them so happy about what was accomplished.” </p><p>That accomplishment will be celebrated today at Bryant-Denny Stadium, an appropriate concluding point for the team that finished.</p><h3>TIDESPORTS 2009 COVERAGE</h3>
<p><h2><a href="/section/topic0320">BCS Championship Section</a></h2></p><p><h2><a href="/section/specialfeature22">UA-UT: Tale of the Tape</a></h2></p><p><h2><a href="/section/specialfeature20">Heisman Trophy Archive</a></h2></p><p><h2><a href="/section/specialfeature03">SEC Championship Section</a></h2></p><p><h2><a href="/2009">2009 Game-By-Game Archive</a></h2></p>